Purpose: To evaluate the frequency of ophthalmic disorders in Shih Tzus.
Animals: Five hundred client-owned Shih Tzu dogs (1000 eyes).
Procedures: Medical records of 500 Shih Tzu dogs were reviewed and ophthalmic examination data were collected and analyzed.
Results: In total, out of 1000 eyes, 964 (96.4%; OD: 480 eyes, OS: 484 eyes) had at least one ophthalmic abnormality, and only 36 eyes (3.6%; OD: 20 eyes, OS: 16 eyes) were diagnosed as normal. A total of 1375 individual ophthalmic abnormalities were observed in 964 diseased eyes. Fifty-nine different unique diagnoses were made in the study population, and only three conditions [medial canthal entropion (10.4% of eyes; bilateral in 10.2% of dogs), caruncular trichiasis (21.1% of eyes; bilateral in 20.2% of dogs), and reduced tear film breakup time (17.6% of eyes; bilateral in 17.4% of dogs)] affected 49.1% of the eyes.
Conclusion and clinical relevance: Findings suggested that the most prevalent disorders for the Shih Tzus were hairy caruncle, reduced TBUT, medial canthal entropion, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, pigmentary keratitis, lagophthalmos, and mature cataract.
Keywords: Shih Tzu; brachycephalic; dry eye disease; eye; ocular; tear film.
© 2024 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.